Michigan
USC
Wolverines to Ring in New Year With Pistons Night, No. 24 USC
12/31/2025 5:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Promotions
• Detroit Pistons Night
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The second-ranked University of Michigan men's basketball team (12-0, 2-0 Big Ten) opens the 2026 calendar year by reigniting Big Ten play on Friday (Jan. 2), hosting 24th-ranked USC (12-1, 1-1 Big Ten) at a sold out Crisler Center on Detroit Pistons Night. The nationally ranked showdown will stream live on Peacock, with John Fanta and Robbie Hummel on the call.
Notes
• Michigan's matchup with USC reunites the Wolverines with Terrance Williams II, who spent four seasons in Ann Arbor helping Michigan to the 2021 Big Ten title and NCAA Sweet 16 runs in both 2021 and 2022.
• When Michigan faces USC, it will mark the Wolverines fifth straight Crisler Center sellout.
• Michigan (12-0) remains one of six undefeated teams nationally. U-M joins No. 1 Arizona (13-0), No. 3 Iowa State (13-0), No. 11 Vanderbilt (13-0), No. 13 Nebraska (13-0), and Miami (Ohio; 14-0) on the list.
• Michigan is authoring one of the most dominant starts to a season in modern college basketball, with nine wins by 20+ points, including six by 40+, one by 50+, and two victories over Top 25 opponents.
• Six of the Wolverines' last eight wins have come by 30 points or more. U-M's 41-point win over McNeese (112-71) gave the Wolverines six victories by 40+ points this season -- the most in Big Ten history.
• U-M has six 100-point games in its last seven, averaging 101.1 points per game during that stretch. This season, the Wolverines have surpassed 100 points seven times and rank third nationally at 96.8 points per game.
• U-M's 96.8 points are +7.4 better than the next Big Ten team -- USC (89.4).
• U-M has 20+ assists in five of the last six games. The Wolverines rank second nationally at 21.6 assists per game, trailing only Texas A&M (22.1).
• Elliot Cadeau caught fire in December, with four double-figure performances in five games. He shot 52.3 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from long range (12-for-21). He has increased his output to 9.8 per game.
• Cadeau remains the lone Wolverine to knock down at least one three in every game this season. His 22 threes exceeded half of his total at North Carolina (39).
• Trey McKenney has six double-figure games in his last seven games.
• LJ Cason has 10 three-pointers in his last five games after making three in his first six games. During the stretch, he has made a career-best three, three times.
• Aday Mara has a block in every game, owns 10 multi-block performances and has produced two swats or more in eight consecutive games. He leads the Big Ten at 2.58 blocks per game (11th nationally).
• Morez Johnson Jr., who averages 13.6 points, opened his U-M career with a career-high 24 points vs. Oakland (10-for-11 field goals) and matched that effort with 24 points in his last outing against McNeese (8-for-12 FGs).
• Yaxel Lendeborg has been automatic inside, shooting 77.8 percent (42-for-54) on two-point attempts while leading U-M at 15.7 points per game.
